Honda Odyssey vs Volkswagen Multivan

What's the difference?

The Honda Odyssey isn’t a bad choice for those looking to ferry around a large gaggle of people, but its far from the best option.

The first two rows are great and are supremely comfortable for those four occupants, but third-row usage will depend on how much those passengers are susceptible to motion sickness.

However, the Odyssey’s biggest weakness might be its sluggish engine and mundane CVT, with rivals like the new Kia Carnival and even Toyota Prius V offering better performance and better economy, respectively.

Still, the Honda Odyssey, and people movers in general, remain a solid option for those that don’t want another SUV or value the practicality and space afforded.

Seventy-four grand is a lot of money for a seven-seater van but it's not the same as a similarly seated SUV. You can do a whole lot more in a Multivan and you can get yourself a VW badge into the bargain. There's something about that badge and the history of VW vans, though, that makes it popular. But it's got the chops to back up its history - it feels great to drive and easy to live with. It's also easy to use and phenomenally easy to get in and out of.

My wife and I genuinely found ourselves looking at each other and saying, "Yeah, we could have one of these." Obviously we came to our senses pretty quickly (we are not van people) but, if we had to have a van, the Multivan would go straight to the top of the list.

Gone are the days where people movers could be considered daggy or uncool. No, please, don’t click away, we’re serious!

The 2021 Honda Odyssey features a new front grille, bumper and headlights that combine for a much more imposing and aggressive front fascia.

The chrome highlights look especially good against the 'Obsidian Blue' paintwork of our test car, at least to our eyes, and between this and the new Kia Carnival, people movers might just be cool again.

In profile, the 17-inch wheels do look a little small next to the massive doors and huge panels, but they do feature a funky two-tone look.

The chrome touches also follow along the Odyssey’s flanks and are found in the door handles and window surrounds to break things up a bit.

From the rear, the Odyssey’s large dimensions are hard to hide, but Honda has tried to jazz things up with a roof-mounted rear spoiler and more chrome around the tail-lights and rear fog light surrounds.

Overall, the Odyssey looks handsome and confident without straying into the ‘trying too hard’ or ‘over the top’ territory, and if anything, at least it’s not another high-riding SUV, which are quickly overtaking streets and car parks the world over.

Step inside and the Odyssey’s layout is nothing special, but gets the job done.

The first- and second-row seats are plush and comfortable, while the dashboard also features woodgrain touches to lift the interior ambience.

The 8.0-inch multimedia screen sit proudly in the centre stack, while the shifter is on the dashboard to maximum interior space.

Volkswagen's approach to this design is all about function but has yielded quite a strong result. That seems a bit silly if you just give the car a cursory glance, but if you spend a bit of time, it's a really nice job. The clay model clearly started as a big rectangular block and it was largely spared the chisel from the windscreen back.

In white it's close to anonymous but the Cruise's two-tone paint job adds a certain strength and some real character. I spent a lot of time looking at it and admiring the sparseness, but also what a clean design it is. That makes me sound slightly bonkers, but few cars get away with so few design features and look this good. Mitsubishi tried a basic design approach 10 years ago and the cars looked awful.

Perhaps the bigger surprise was the interior. Few commercial vans scrub up this well, so much so that you'd be hard-pressed to identify the Multivan in that way. The materials on the dash are typical VW - which is to say very good - and it doesn't feel or look like a knockabout interior, with some carpet and nicely covered seats in it.

Measuring 4855mm long, 1820mm wide, 1710mm tall and with a 2900mm wheelbase, the Honda Odyssey is not just an imposing behemoth on the outside, but also a spacious and practical people mover on the inside.

Up front, occupants are treated to plush and comfortable seats with electronic adjustment and individual fold-down armrests.

Storage options abound, with deep door pockets, a dual-chamber glove box, and a tricked-out centre storage console that can retract into the centre stack and features two hidden cupholders.

Because of the compact engine and transmission package, and the fact the centre console tucks away, there is actually just empty space between the two front occupants, which is a missed opportunity.

Maybe Honda could have put another storage bin there, or even a cooled box for chilled drinks on long road trips. Either way it’s a notable, unexploited cavity.

The second-row seats are probably the place to be in the Odyssey, though, with its two captain’s chairs offering supreme comfort.

Adjustability is also plentiful, with forward/backwards, recline and even left/right positioning available.

However, while there are cupholders and roof-mounted climate controls present, there really isn’t much else to keep second-row occupants, well, occupied.

Would be nice to see some charging ports or even entertainment screens to keep kids and adults placated on long journeys, but at least the head, shoulder, and legroom is generous.

In the third row, it’s a tighter squeeze, but I managed to get my 183cm (6'0") frame comfortable.

The three-row bench is the least comfy place to be, but there is a charging outlet and cupholders back there.

Those with child seats also take note, the second-row captain’s chairs top-tether anchor point is very low down on the seat back, meaning you might have to max out the strap length to get it there.

Also, because of the captain’s chairs, the top tether strap can be knocked off quite easily, as the inner shoulders of the seats are smooth offering nothing for the strap to catch onto if pushed towards the middle of the car.

And you can’t even install the car seat in the third row because the bench seat doesn’t feature any ISOFIX points. 

With all seats in place, the boot will happily swallow 322 litres (VDA) of volume, more than enough for groceries, school bags or even the stroller.

However, the boot floor is quite deep, making the retrieval of bulkier and heavy items a little cumbersome.

With the third-row folded, though, that cavity is filled in and the Odyssey features a completely flat floor then able to take on 1725L of volume.

Honda has even found a place for the space saver spare wheel, though it’s not underneath the car or tucked into the boot floor as you'd expect.

The spare is under the two front seats, and requires the removal of some interior carpets and trim to access. 

It’s not in the most convenient of places, but props to Honda for getting one in there when other seven-seaters just opt for a puncture repair kit. 

This needs a very solid breakdown because there is a lot to know about this particular car. Starting with sliding doors on both sides, which are electrically operated, and there are buttons on the remote to open and close them.

There is a phenomenal amount of storage inside. The driver's door alone has two storeys of pockets to carry plenty of different-sized and shaped items. There's so many places to put things you can almost get decision paralysis.

Down on the floor between the seats is a handbrake that seems to have been borrowed from a helicopter, but it's that long because it's attached right down on the carpet. That means you can walk from the third row all the way through the van, flip up the armrests on either of the captain's-chair style seats and plonk yourself down. Or vice versa. 

The second row features two separate captain's chairs (again) that are set on rails. You can slide them back and forth and - most impressively - swivel them through 180-degrees to face the third row so you've got yourself a meeting room on wheels, complete with the USB-C ports on one side of the back row, just above a double-cupholder set up. The seat belts for the second row are integrated into the seats themselves, which is why you can use them in motion.

Incidentally, the back row can also slide back and forth and can fold down as well. There are cupholders either side of the row, too (the previously mentioned double along with a generous-sized one that came with its own thermal cup...I think that's what it was) and with the aforementioned USB ports.

On top of all that, there are window blinds, little porthole windows in the sliding door windows themselves, a place to put, say, a clipboard on the dash in front of you and a cupholder with two USB-C ports next to the shifter.

Being a van, the total cargo volume is gigantic. If you hoof the seats out, the cargo area is 2.532 metres by 1.627 (1.220m at the wheelarches). The height is 1.32m, meaning if you're under five feet tall, you can walk without bending over. Suffice it to say, you can fit an enormous amount of stuff in.

If there's still not enough room, you can tow 2500kg with a braked trailer and 750kg unbraked. A two-bar roof rack will hold a further 100kg and a three-bar 150kg. Gross vehicle mass is 3080kg from a 2266kg unladen weight, meaning a maximum payload of 814kg.

That's enough stats on practicality to keep you going.

The Cruise fits between the Comfortline Premium and the Highline, which itself comes in underneath the conference-room-on-wheels Comfortline Exec. The full title for the two-tone terror I had for a week is the Multivan TDI340 Cruise Edition T6.1 SWB. So from that you can tell it's a turbodiesel-powered Multivan on the shorter of the two available wheelbases and part of the T6.1 update for the van range.

The Cruise Edition comes with 18-inch alloys, a six-speaker stereo, multi-zone climate control, reversing camera, front, side and rear parkings sensors, active cruise control, digital dashboard, electric sliding side doors, powered tailgate, sat nav, auto LED headlights, park assist (with automated steering), auto wipers, power front windows, a clever seating system, LED taillights and sliding side windows.

All 2021 Honda Odysseys are powered by a 129kW/225Nm 2.4-litre ‘K24W’ four-cylinder petrol engine, which drives the front wheels via a continuously variable automatic transmission (CVT).

Peak power is available at 6200rpm, while maximum torque is on stream from 4000rpm.

Honda diehards might note the K24 engine designation and be reminded of the rev-hungry 2.4-litre unit of the Accord Euro from the early 2000s, but this Odyssey’s powerplant is built for efficiency rather than performance.

Compared to the likes of the Kia Carnival (which is available with a 216kW/355Nm 3.5-litre V6 or 148kW/440Nm 2.2-litre turbo-diesel) the Odyssey is noticeably down on power.

The Australian Odyssey also doesn’t feature any form of electrification, such as the Toyota Prius V, which would excuse the lower outputs and push the Honda people mover more into green territory.

The 340 in the long name refers to the torque figure of the 2.0-litre turbodiesel four-cylinder. With 110Kw between 3250 and 3750rpm and 340Nm between 1500 and 3000rpm, it's a solid performer. In this guise, the seven-speed twin-clutch transmission delivers the power to the front wheels.

The 2021 Honda Odyssey, regardless of grade, will return a fuel consumption figure of 8.0 litres per 100km, according to official figures.

This betters the fuel economy of the petrol-powered Kia Carnival (9.6L/100km), as well as the Mazda CX-8 (8.1L/100km) and soon-to-be-replaced Toyota Kluger (9.1-9.5L/100km).

In our week with the Odyssey Vi LX7, we managed an average of 9.4L/100km in a mix of inner-city and freeway driving, which isn’t too far off the official figure.

Though the fuel consumption isn’t too bad for a naturally aspirated petrol engine, those who want to save costs at the bowser should look to the petrol-electric Toyota Prius V hybrid, which sips just 4.4L/100km.

Volkswagen affixes a sticker to the windscreen with a 6.6L/100km combined-cycle figure. My week with the van was pretty busy and included a thorough fact-finding day on motorways and climbing Sydney's Blue Mountains, delivering an indicated 8.0L/100km over the week, which is well within the bounds of expectation with those official figures. That's pretty good going for a two-tonne-plus van with the requisite lack of slippery aerodynamics.

Though the Honda Odyssey looks like a bus on the outside, it doesn’t feel like one behind the wheel.

The Odyssey drives differently to an SUV, which is a good thing, feeling more hunkered down and connected to the road compared to the wallowy and bouncy nature of some high-riders.

Don’t get me wrong, this isn’t Honda’s best handling model, but there is certainly enough feedback in the steering wheel to know exactly what’s happening underneath, and the Odyssey always feels predictable, regardless of road condition.

And because visibility is excellent all around, the Honda Odyssey is just an easy, no-fuss car to drive.

The second-row is also great while on the move, and might actually be the better place to be.

The seats do a great job at soaking up little bumps and road imperfections, and there is plenty of room to stretch out and relax while someone else handles driving duties.

It’s a shame, then, that there isn’t more going on in the second row to keep passengers happy.

The third-row seats, though, are nowhere near as comfortable.

Maybe it’s the fact they are positioned right over the rear axle, or it’s the thick and vision-obscuring C- and D-pillars – or a combination of both – but time in seats five, six and seven, aren't ideal for those prone to motion sickness.

Maybe kids, or those with stronger stomachs can get comfortable in the third row, but for us, it was not a pleasant experience.

I may have given you the impression that the Multivan is fun to drive, but it's not in the usual sense. It does feel a bit van-ish with the initially awkward steering wheel angle. The driver's seat is hugely comfortable and you quickly discover that, despite being nearly as long as a Hyundai Santa Fe or Mazda CX-9, it's surprisingly wieldy, with the front wheels achieving impressive angles when you're on full lock.

No, you're not going to pull a u-turn in a normal suburban street, but you can get some tight angles while parking and, given its shape is that of a chiselled brick, you know where the corners are, with the sensors and cameras picking up the slack.

It never feels anything like its size until you head down the driveway into a shopping centre car park and the dangling 2.1 metres clearance sign looks ominously close. It doesn't just look close, though. The view out front is awesome and you are literally eye-balling bus drivers. Dogs love it because they can talk to bus drivers out the window, as our furry idiot did.

Obviously it's long for car-park spaces, like an SUV or any other people mover for that matter, so you have to take the usual care.

So why is it so much fun to drive. Obviously it's not a GTI (although the Transporter Sportline looks like it might be...) but the diesel engine is exceptionally strong and dealt with everything I threw at it.

Sadly I wasn't able to rope in a group of folks to go with me, given our current restrictions, but the 340Nm figure feels conservative. Especially when slaloming around slow-moving clowns on the motorway in the right-hand lane.

So the fun? Everybody absolutely loved this thing. In fact, to take the parlance of one of the Mystery Machine occupants, they dug it, man. So many blokes in utes looking wistfully at a van that obviously sparked a yearning for... having five kids maybe? I dunno, but people just loved it and when I posted a pic of it on Instagram, the crowd went wild.

And I loved driving it around and was sad to hand it back. M'colleague Matt Campbell is scheming to get into one, and even other folks from competing publications expressed a yearning.

The Multivan arrives with six airbags, with curtain airbags that reach all the way to the third row. There are also the usual traction and stability controls, along with multi-collision brake (which stops you rolling into another accident after suffering the first), driver-fatigue detection, reversing camera, blind-spot monitoring, rear cross-traffic alert, lane-keep assist, and low-speed forward AEB.

It's a pity the AEB doesn't extend to higher speeds, especially given this machine's role as a people carrier, and a further disappointment is its lack of pedestrian and cyclist detection.

The two swivel seats in the middle row feature ISOFIX points and top-tether anchors. The third row features another three ISOFIX points and three top-tether anchors.

Like all new Hondas sold in 2021, the Odyssey comes with a five-year/unlimited kilometre warranty, with six-years of rust protection assurance.

Scheduled service intervals are every six months or 10,000km, whichever occurs first, but this is much sooner than the industry standard of 12 months/15,000km.

According to Honda’s 'Tailored Service' price guide, the first five years of ownership will cost buyers $3351 in servicing fees, averaging out to around $670 per year.

The Kia Carnival petrol meanwhile, is about $2435 to service over five years, averaging out to be about $487 per year.

The Toyota Prius V also needs to be serviced every six months/10,000km, but the cost of the first five years of ownership totals just $2314.71 – more than $1000 less than the Odyssey.

As with other VWs, the Multivan Cruise has a five year/unlimited-kilometre warranty, which is now largely the norm, albeit not among German manufacturers. You also score a year of roadside assist into the bargain, which is extended with each service.

As for servicing, you can purchase up front, with five years for $1980, representing a $781 saving on pay-as-you-go assured-pricing service. A three-year commitment is $1300 and is a saving of between $159 and $357 on pay as you go.